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Teaching with Historic Places
Heritage Education Services Program
Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) uses properties listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. TwHP has created a variety of products and activities that help teachers bring historic places into the classroom.
Lesson Plan Index: State
Teaching with Historic Places has developed more than 130 classroom-ready lesson plans that together reach across the United States. All are available on the Web. For more information on lessons plans or our program, contact TwHP. You can also view the entire collection according to topic, time period, primary source, skill, U.S. History Standards, and Social Studies Standards.
Follow Admiral Farragut's attack on Fort Morgan and Mobile Bay, and consider the human reaction to technologies such as ironclads and underwater mines. (National Historic Landmark)
Learn how people in Selma, Alabama, and national civil rights organizations worked together to end the unconstitutional denial of voting rights to African Americans in the South. (Brown Chapel AME Church and the First Confederate Capitol are National Historic Landmarks)
Discover how a small town in a remote U.S. territory played a large role in defending the United States and its allies during World War II. Join the stampede for gold when over 100,000 prospectors set out for the Klondike. (National Park/National Historic Landmark) See also Gold Fever! Seattle Outfits the Klondike Gold Rush (55), another lesson plan on the discovery of gold in the Klondike. Learn how a classroom teacher uses this lesson.
Learn what led the U.S. government to confine nearly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry to relocation centers in remote areas of the country during World War II. (Manzanar is a National Park and National Historic Landmark. Rohwer is a National Historic Landmark.)
California
Analyze how this local landmark came to symbolize the commercial prosperity of a western town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Meet Bill Keys, a self-reliant 20th-century homesteader whose ingenuity allowed him to thrive in the inhospitable California desert. (National Park)
Learn how the United States mobilized a massive construction effort to build a large merchant fleet to serve in war and peace. (The SS Red Oak Victory is part of a National Park. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien and the SS Lane Victory are National Historic Landmarks.)
Understand the experience of early Asian immigrants and the obstacles they encountered as they struggled to make a living and find a place in American society. (Locke is a National Historic Landmark)
Learn what led the U.S. government to confine nearly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry to relocation centers in remote areas of the country during World War II. (Manzanar is a National Park and National Historic Landmark. Rohwer is a National Historic Landmark.)
Learn how three buildings restored and maintained by the U.S. General Services Administration illustrate the important role the federal government played and continues to play in communities across the country.
Learn how these remote passes in the mountains influenced the course of the westward expansion of the United States. (National Park/Raton Pass is a National Historic Landmark.)
The United States Air Force Academy: Founding a Proud Tradition (114)
Learn how the expansion of military air power in the first half of the 20th century led to the establishment of the United States Air Force and the Air Force Academy. (National Historic Landmark)
Examine the influence of Reverend Joseph Bellamy, a leading preacher in New England from 1740-1790, in colonial American religion, and learn about the role of religion in 18th-century life as well as the resurgence of religious fervor known as the Great Awakening. View the world through an artist's eye and learn how an important art movement was established in America. (National Park)
Delaware
Discover how an early 20th-century philanthropist reformed Delaware's education system for African-American children.
Assess the importance of America's early canal system and its economic and social effects. (National Park)
Inspect Commodore Stephen Decatur's home near the White House, a gathering place for the politically ambitious, and learn why the naval hero felt compelled to fight a fateful duel. (National Historic Landmark)
"The Honor of Your Company is Requested": Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Ball at the Patent Office (143)
Attend President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural ball and explore how American citizens celebrate their leaders taking office. (National Historic Landmark)
Learn how a group of determined women selected Lafayette Park, across from the White House, to demonstrate for their right to vote, providing a First Amendment model for many others. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Learn about Mary McLeod Bethune and how she and the organization she founded promoted political and social change for African American women. (National Park)
Explore President Abraham Lincoln’s life at a country retreat during summer months and examine the work he completed there on the Emancipation Proclamation. (National Historic Landmark)
Understand why George Washington was so revered during his lifetime and beyond, and learn why it took 100 years to complete this famous monument in his honor. (National Park)
Examine Wilson's struggle to achieve lasting world peace following World War I. (National Historic Landmark)
Learn how the United States mobilized a massive construction effort to build a large merchant fleet to serve in war and peace. (The SS Red Oak Victory is part of a National Park. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien and the SS Lane Victory are National Historic Landmarks.)
Learn how Spain established a New World empire based on collecting precious metals and goods from the Americas.
La versión en español Las flotas españolas de 1715 y 1733: Desastres en el mar (134) Discover how immigrant cigar makers in this section of Tampa, Florida, adapted to life in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th century while maintaining their ethnic identity. (National Historic Landmark)
Discover why this British settlement was built and how it functioned as Great Britain and Spain each struggled to control land from Charleston to St. Augustine. (National Park) Learn about James Oglethorpe and his enduring city plan from the colonial era. (National Historic Landmark)
Investigate sharecropping as a way of life in upland Georgia during the early 20th century and examine the efforts of one farm owner to diversify as market fluctuation and urbanization threatened that life. Understand the factors that contributed both to the forced removal of the Cherokees off their homelands and to painful divisions within the tribe. (The Trail of Tears is a National Historic Trail./The Major Ridge House and John Ross House are National Historic Landmarks.) Learn how a classroom teacher uses this lesson.
Consider how simple, functional cabins, like those built by the Finns in Idaho, became symbols in American politics and folklore.
Learn about a famous landscape artist and his efforts to promote conservation and an appreciation for the native plant life of the United States.
Learn how Abraham Lincoln's belief in freedom and democracy, his eloquence, and the support of family and community propelled him to the White House and uplifted him through the turbulent Civil War. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Learn about Free Frank McWorter and how archeology can help tell the story of the interracial town he founded in the years before the Civil War.
Meet the people and learn of events that influenced the development of Abraham Lincoln's character and personality as a youth on the Indiana frontier. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial: Where Man and Memory Intersect (144)
Discover the power of place in honoring President Lincoln's origins and consider how the nation uses memorial structures and landscapes to express respect for its heroes and to celebrate anniversaries. (National Park)
Discover how and why industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie chose libraries to be among his greatest benefactions to the U.S., and assess the impact of libraries on American society.
Learn how a tradition of outlawry developed in Kansas and how people in Coffeyville fought back.
Learn how three buildings restored and maintained by the U.S. General Services Administration illustrate the important role the federal government played and continues to play in communities across the country.
Tour the world's longest cave, a geological wonder, and assess the ways it has been used and preserved as a historic resource. (National Park/UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Follow the highways of the 1920s and 1930s, exploring the whimsical, extravagant architecture that came with American auto culture.
Examine New Orleans's distinctive French Quarter, a vibrant reflection of its Creole heritage, and recall the city's role in American westward expansion. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Inspect a recreational demonstration area (RDA) in western Maryland, created as part of a Great Depression government relief program. (National Park)
Follow Barton's remarkable career as a leader of charitable causes, from caring for the wounded on Civil War battlefields to founding the American Red Cross. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Trace the evolution of this Maryland site from a chapter of the Chautauqua movement, to an amusement park, to a national park. (National Park) Learn how the United States mobilized a massive construction effort to build a large merchant fleet to serve in war and peace. (The SS Red Oak Victory is part of a National Park. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien and the SS Lane Victory are National Historic Landmarks.)
Learn how the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore led to the writing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and how Key’s song became a powerful symbol for Americans. (National Park) Learn how a classroom teacher uses this lesson.
Visit JFK's birthplace and consider the effects of culture and community in shaping character and personality. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Discover how the first arboretum in the United States became part of the burgeoning urban park movement in the second half of the 19th century. (National Historic Landmark)
Learn how technology applied to textile mills revolutionized industry, in turn affecting mill architecture, city planning, and transportation. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Learn about the life and work of the sculptor, Daniel Chester French, and about the important role public sculpture played in turn-of-the-20th century America. (National Historic Landmark)
Learn about Frederick Law Olmsted and his philosophy about parks and cities as well as city life during the Industrial Revolution. (Includes Arnold Arboretum, a National Historic Landmark)
Examine how the advent of industrialization in 19th-century America impacted the workforce in New England's Blackstone River Valley. (Mechanics Hall is included in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.)
Explore the country's first large-scale designed landscape open to the public that spawned the development of other rural cemeteries, public parks, and designed suburbs. Meet Captain Edward Penniman, and learn about 19th-century whaling in southeastern Massachusetts and how the whaling industry impacted Penniman's family and life. (National Park)
Unearth the remains of colonial America's first fully integrated ironworks, and consider what reconstruction of the site reveals about daily life for some early European settlers. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Compare two images of St. Louis's handsome Courthouse--as a gathering place for pioneers heading west and as a dramatic focus for Dred Scott's heroic efforts to free his family from slavery. (National Park)
Learn how the 1804-1806 expedition effectively opened the Northwest to the influence of the United States, established relations with numerous American Indian nations, and gathered useful scientific documentation about the West. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Tour Edison's West Orange complex where his creative combination of research, production, and marketing revolutionized the business of invention. (National Park) Learn about two historic lighthouses that illustrate how technological advancements contributed to maritime safety and about the isolated, often routine, but sometimes heroic lives led by their keepers.(Navesink Light Station is a National Historic Landmark.) Learn about the causes and effects of a famous silk industry strike and how it affected those who were involved. (The Pietro Botto House is a National Historic Landmark. Paterson Great Falls National Historic Park is a National Park.)
Learn how these remote passes in the mountains influenced the course of the westward expansion of the United States. (National Park/Raton Pass is a National Historic Landmark.)
Examine the changing lifeways of the inhabitants of this village from the 7th century to the arrival of the Spanish in the early 17th century. (National Park)
Understand the ways in which ranchos in northern New Mexico provide evidence of the ability of Hispano culture to adapt to new influences while still maintaining its traditional character. Discover how the Bureau of Reclamation transformed the arid valley of the Rio Grande by constructing Elephant Butte Dam and the Rio Grande irrigation project and examine some of the problems encountered along the way.
(National Historic Landmark)
Learn how New York's Mohawk Valley became the setting for a fierce Revolutionary War battle that pitted residents of the area, including the nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, against each other.
(National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Examine how Roosevelt's activities at home reflected her interest in humanitarianism, as epitomized by her leadership in the creation of the UN's Declaration of Human Rights. (National Park)
Learn about the vital role played by naval aviators delivering aircraft to combat-bound units in the Pacific during WWII, and the women workers on the home front who helped in one of U.S. history's greatest industrial feats. (National Park)
Learn why a family home in upstate New York became the site for the creation of one of the most important documents in the history of American women. (National Park)
Follow this president to the White House and Lindenwald in the rough-and-tumble world of early 19th century politics. (National Park/National Historic Landmark) Follow the highways of the 1920s and 1930s, exploring the whimsical, extravagant architecture that came with American auto culture. Learn about 18th-century warfare and the battle that was a turning point of the American Revolution. (National Park) Understand how Springwood was the keystone in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's public as well as private life by playing host to some very dramatic events in American history. (National Park) Examine the circumstances under which Theodore Roosevelt first became President of the United States and how his policies and actions modernized the presidency. (National Park)
Discover how the Vanderbilts became one of the wealthiest families in America and how their lifestyle influenced business, culture, architecture, and society in ways that still affect us today. (National Park)
Learn how the deceptive results of this battle in the backwoods of North Carolina helped set the stage for American victory. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Learn about the United States Lifesaving Service daring rescues to save imperiled lives from the "Graveyard of the Atlantic." (National Park)
Discover how Raleigh became the capital of North Carolina and how the design of the capitol building reflected state pride as well as democratic ideals. (National Historic Landmark)
Follow the highways of the 1920s and 1930s, exploring the whimsical, extravagant architecture that came with American auto culture. Discover why the Wright Brothers chose the Outer Banks of North Carolina to conduct their flight experiments, how they achieved controlled powered flight in 1903, and how their accomplishments have been commemorated. (National Park)
Learn about the evolution of a system to honor and care for U.S. veterans beginning with the creation of soldiers' homes and national cemeteries during and after the Civil War. (National Historic Landmark) Learn about the history of Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio, and about the federal government's policies guiding the marking of POW graves during and after the Civil War. Assess the importance of America's early canal system and its economic and social effects. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Learn how the 1804-1806 expedition effectively opened the Northwest to the influence of the United States, established relations with numerous American Indian nations, and gathered useful scientific documentation about the West. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Learn how transportation routes affected a local inn, how archeology revealed the inn's use over time, and how preservation efforts saved the historic site from suburban sprawl. Learn why Moravians immigrated to the New World and how the towns they established embodied their religious beliefs.
Discover how and why industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie chose libraries to be among his greatest benefactions to the U.S., and assess the impact of libraries on American society.
Trace the course of this Civil War battle and consider the wrenching personal choices that were made by soldiers on each side. (National Park) Learn how a classroom teacher uses this lesson.
Explore how Hopewell functioned as a productive work unit and how work defined social relationships in this early National period community. (National Park)
Learn about Independence Hall and about how international influence of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution has led to the designation of the building in which they were adopted as a World Heritage Site. (National Park/UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Analyze the influences that shaped the symbolic meaning of the bell, and evaluate the various claims as to how and when it was cracked. (National Park)
Determine how environmental management, technology, and the actions of 19th-century industrialists contributed to a disaster in Pennsylvania that shocked the nation. (National Park)
Delve into a superpower meeting and discover how President Eisenhower's brand of diplomacy at this Pennsylvania farm temporarily eased the tensions of the Cold War. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
La versión en español Los Castillos del Viejo San Juan: Guardianes del Caribe
These Honored Dead: The Battle of Rivers Bridge and Civil War Combat Casualties (94)
Follow the highways of the 1920s and 1930s, exploring the whimsical, extravagant architecture that came with American auto culture.
Examine how geography and boosterism influenced the placement of rail lines, which then stimulated the growth of towns such as Chattanooga. Learn how a classroom teacher uses this lesson. Understand the factors that contributed both to the forced removal of the Cherokees off their homelands and to painful divisions within the tribe. (The Trail of Tears is a National Historic Trail./The Major Ridge House and John Ross House are National Historic Landmarks.) Learn how a classroom teacher uses this lesson.
Discover how the Bureau of Reclamation transformed the arid valley of the Rio Grande by constructing Elephant Butte Dam and the Rio Grande irrigation project and examine some of the problems encountered along the way. Explore a group of 18th-century missions in modern San Antonio to learn about Spanish influence on native peoples and the patterns of Texas culture. (National Park/National Historic Landmark)
Discover how and why industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie chose libraries to be among his greatest benefactions to the U.S., and assess the impact of libraries on American society.
(National Historic Landmark)
Assess the importance of America's early canal system and its economic and social effects. (National Park)
Learn why this home in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was a center of military activity, and consider the impact the war had on those whose property became part of the battlefield. (National Park)
Study personal accounts of soldiers who fought in the first battle of the Civil War, and discover how the day set the tone for the many bloody battles to come. (National Park) Learn how a classroom teacher uses this lesson.
Meet John Marshall, who led the U.S. Supreme Court from obscurity and weakness to prominence and power in the early 19th century. (National Historic Landmark)
Visit the Madisons' plantation home and their world of social prominence, and explore some contemporary views of slavery. (National Historic Landmark)
Learn about the U.S. Supreme Court case that forced the integration of public schools and meet the individuals who experienced segregation, fought to dismantle the institution, and integrated the public school system of New Kent County, Virginia. (National Historic Landmark)
Learn about the multifaceted intellect of Thomas Jefferson and how he fused his abilities as an architect, educational and political theorist, and politician to create a revolutionary new setting for higher education in the new American republic. (National Historic Landmark/UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Examine continuity and change in this rural Virginia town from its founding as a Quaker agricultural community and mill town in the 18th century to today. (National Historic Landmark)
Examine how the discovery of gold in the Canada's remote Klondike region touched off the last great gold rush, creating an economic boom that changed the city of Seattle forever. (National Park/Includes Pioneer Building, a National Historic Landmark) See also Skagway: Gateway to the Klondike (75) another lesson plan on the discovery of gold in the Klondike.
Follow the highways of the 1920s and 1930s, exploring the whimsical, extravagant architecture that came with American auto culture.

